If the rationale for a plan keeps changing – and figures and calculations with it – voters should smell a rat.
He adds that the high-speed rail route is something that could “change the economic geography of this country”.
Each day, four families must face the news that their child has been killed or seriously injured in a car accident. We need bold reform to bring this figure down.
Conservatives can find supporters in the trade union movement – why won’t they listen to them?
Using fines as a hidden source of taxation is unconstitutional – it goes against the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. The Government are tackling this abuse.
Is it really necessary or so many of us to rush from one city to another? But let us accept that growth is desirable, and that we need greater capacity
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. When David Cameron, Nick Clegg and George Osborne all rally round HS2 within the space of a few days, you know that it may never leave the station. Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson have come out against the plan. Owen Paterson is said to be doubtful, and determined to […]
50 years ago today, after a boycott by passengers, the Bristol Omnibus Company ended their ban on employing ethnic minorities as bus drivers and bus conductors. Newsnight had a report on the matter last night. The "colour bar" was supported by region of the Transport and General Workers Union (as Unite the Union was then […]
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. Things just keep getting worse and worse for HS2. After the IEA's cost warning, the revised financial estimates by Treasury officials and the criticism of the scheme by Alistair Darling and this site's own Tim Montgomerie, now it turns out even its target market don't want it. A survey of 1,300 […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter It's been another terrible week for the Coalition's High-Speed Rail 2 project. It began on Sunday with an IEA report which warned that costs for the project might eventually exceed £80 billion. Then two days ago the FT reported that Treasury officials (not the Chancellor) were also worried that […]
It's rather a relief for a think tank to produce a paper urging us to look to the past. The History Boys from the New Local Government Network seeks to do so. I'm not sure how much of a guide to policy it is but there are some inspiring anecdotes. Cities Minister, Greg Clark, who […]
I have been critical of Conservative-run Croydon Council for increasing Council Tax this year. However the council are to be commended for their review of staff transport which has produced considerable savings. Cllr Sara Bashford, the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Voluntary Services, says that in 2010 the Council switched from the traditional fleet approach […]
Oxfordshire County Council, a Conservative/Independents alliance, is proposing new bus lanes with the explicit intention of increasing revenue from fines. There are already far too many bus lanes. They are imposed to punish motorists rather than with a balanced view of whether they reduce overall journey times. Where bus lanes are in place, the damage […]
It is reported that the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, is proposing changing the guidance so that motorists should be allowed to park on a double yellow line (or single yellow line when the restrictions apply) for 15 minutes before getting a ticket. What actually emerges as policy remains to be seen. The […]
Labour will provide enough time to commit us – and then Balls will spring £50 billion of spending pledges from the saving of cancelling HS2.